‘Coffee With’ Column returns to AussieTheatre with WAAPA graduates Matilda Moran and Joel Granger

Over the last few weeks, the team at AussieTheatre.com have been busy putting together a content schedule for 2016, and today we can officially announce an exciting regular column which will appear exclusively on AussieTheatre for the next 12 months.

AussieTheatre’s much loved “Coffee With...” column, which initially ran from 2007-2009 and featured new graduates of WAAPA writing about their first experiences in the Australian theatre industry, makes a return in 2015-16. After sitting down for Coffee With Lucy Maunder in 2007, followed by Gemma-Ashley Kaplan (2008) and Kate Walder (2009), AussieTheatre readers will now have the chance to gain insight into the lives of TWO new WAAPA graduates in 2015-16.

Sydney-sider Matilda Moran and New Zealand born Joel Granger, both recent graduates of the WAAPA musical theatre course, will pen columns for the regular Coffee With… blog over the next 12 months and the team at AussieTheatre are thrilled to welcome them on board!

Matilda, who has achieved her LTCL in Clarinet, is a graduate of the Talent Development Project (TDP), has performed as a jazz vocalist with James Morrison at many festivals and worked as a headline vocalist with MSC Cruises/Bor Productions says she is looking forward to joining the AussieTheatre.com team.

“I am keen as a bean to join the AussieTheatre.com team and begin diverting my creative documentation skills from writing about my pelvic floor engagement to sharing my experiences as a first- year graduate in the real world” Matilda said.

“I look forward to suppressing unnecessarily memorised lines and dance routines for exciting stories about my life as an employed actress… fingers crossed!”

Joel Granger, who moved to Australia after his acceptance into the prestigious Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts was invited to London to perform for Andrew Lloyd Webber and David Grindrod as part of ITV’s Superstar TV series during his final high school year. While at WAAPA, Joel was the recipient of the 2014 Warnock Award for ‘Most Promising Second Year Student’ and was the 2015 winner of the Julie Michael Award for Musical Cabaret. For his final showcase, Joel also won the 2015 Leslie Anderson award for his performance.

He’s hashtag blessed. (And that’s a pretty big deal)

“I feel so #blessed to become a part of this AussieTheatre.com community. I’d like to thank my parents for giving birth to me, my first goldfish, Lucy, and of course, the Academy. I promise I’ll try and come up with pithy and revolutionary ideas about the industry that I have currently spent a grand total of one month in, and I look forward to pretending that I am an interesting human being”, Joel said.

Coffee With… will feature as a regular column on AussieTheatre.com, so remember to set aside some time *and a beverage of your choice* to catch up on life after showcase with these two superstars. It’s going to be a wild ride!